I was in DC over the weekend doing the tourist thing. It was HOT!

 

So,what's the situation,in Calfornia???
Fires????
Water supply???
On the News,tonight,they said,you only had a one year of water supply???

What about,watering the lawns,washing the cars,flushing the toilets,showers???

 

Well, it's a big place so there are some significant differences between north, central, south, east and, west, but generally speaking it's hot and dry or warm and dry depending on where you are. We had some freak thunderstorms in SoCal two weeks ago which most heavily impacted the inland desert communities. Elsewhere in SoCal it just made things humid.

This is the time of year most prone to wildfires in the mountains and foothills and this year is following that trend. NorCal is getting more damaged by fires right now than SoCal, but it's only early August yet. A recon drive I was doing with some friends yesterday in prep for our first ever non-Malibu EOQ Drive the last weekend in September got cut short at the 1/3 mark. Road was closed about two hours before we arrived due to a forest fire north of Ojai. Bummer. Keeping an eye on that so I know when I can resume recon.

Yes, unless we get some serious rain which can be captured and some snow this winter in the Sierras, things will be... very bad with the water supply.

The good news is that most water districts, businesses, and residents have stepped up to the challenge and reports are very positive about us meeting, and in some cases exceeding, the mandatory cut requirements on our water usage. It is good progress, especially considering low-flow devices have been mandatory here in new constructions, remodels, and to pass inspections to sell homes for some time.

There have been stiff fines in place for water wasters for more than a year now. Various districts have local rules in place regarding watering. I personally either go to the coin op manual car wash or get my car washed at the full service place that recycles their water. In between, I use my California car duster or instant detailer on the "nice cars" before I put the cover on. The daily just gets dirty. I have it washed maybe once a month or so.

I don't know what is customary in Canada, but no one is monitoring our toilets or inside our showers yet here in California in order to hand out citations. Naturally, everyone is encouraged to use low-flow devices and take shorter showers.

 

...And,I still wash my driveway,with, my garden hose...

 

Where I live in Lake Forest, CA, I can still do what I want with water but the price has gone up. I still wash my cars in the driveway, but as always, with a shut off nozzle. I can still water my lawn with my timer-set automatic sprinklers but have turned it off about half the week. I've used less water than last year and am on the good girl list. I think it might have something to do with finding and repairing a slab leak in May.

 

Glad to see you're on the "Good Girls " list...

 

Overall Californians have cut their water use by 27%, I think is the number. I'm on a well so nobody knows how much I use, but we still try to conserve.

There are two fires close to us. The Wrapp fire is about 20 miles northeast and is at the east end of Lake Berryessa, where I take my Honda R12X to jet ski. That one is about contained and caused no problems in my area except for 1-2 days when the wind shifted and we had about half the sky covered with smoke. The Rocky fire at Clearlake is about 35 miles north, is over 60,000 acres and is 12% contained. Not a lot of smoke from that one yet, but I think my taxes will go up with all the assets being used to fight it. Side note, my parents and uncle lived at Clearlake in the 80s and 90s. My uncle's x-place is right in the path of the fire.

All Californians are hoping that the El Nino stays strong and brings extra rainfall to the west coast this fall and winter. All signs say it is looking good.
I wonder, if they can build a pipeline from Canada to the gulf for oil, why not build one from the east to west for water? And if it leaked, who cares? I think fltsfshr can spare a few of those 14+ inches he is hogging right now, eh?

 

^^^ I think this qualifies for the Profound Thought thread.

I too am hoping the El Nino predictions are closer to accurate than not. Thing is that apparently El Nino is a warm temperature kind of thing. One report I was listening to said that this doesn't necessarily end up generating snow and that's what they say we really need up there in the Sierras. Snow that can slowly melt over the year and supply the reservoirs and stuff. But I am definitely no weather forecaster. I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express once.

 

http://www.livescience.com/43176-dro...arid-west.html

 

And then there is Nestle's Arrowheart bottle water plant in San Bernadino that has pumped ~25 million gallons a water a year out of the national park for $684 /yr.
Oh and the permit to do so expired almost 30 years ago in 1988.
The guy at the national forest agency responsible for governing it retired and now works at .... drum roll..... yup, you guessed it, Nestle.